Rigid litter

ABSTRACT

A PERSONNEL LITTER ACCORDING TO THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE COMPRISES A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID PALLET. FIRST RIGID RESTRAINING MEANS IS PROVIDED FOR RESTRAINING THE LENGTH OF THE TORSO OF THE PERSONNEL, AND SECOND RESTRAINING MEANS RESTRAINS MOVEMENT OF THE TORSO. ATTACHMENT MEANS RIGIDLY ATTACHES THE RESTRAINING MEANS TO THE PALLET. ACCORDING TO ONE FEATURE OF THIS DISCLOSURE, A CANOPY IS PROVIDED FOR RECEIVING THE PALLET AND SNARE MEANS IS MOUNTED TO THE CANOPY SO THAT AN AIRCRAFT IS CAPABLE OF SNARING THE SNARE MEANS TO EVACUATE THE LITTER.

Oct. 5, 1971 ZE|NER 3,609,718

RIGID LITTER Filed March 7, 1969 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN vavroa EUGENE 4ZE/A/E/Z ATTORNEY E. A. ZEINER Oct. 5, 1971 RIGID LITTER 3 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed March '7, 1969 //VVEN7'0R Eyes/v.5 4. EBA/H2 ATTORNEY Oct. 5,1971 51 ZEINER 3,609,778

RIGID LITTER Filed March 7, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR,

Eu ave 4. ZE/A/E/Q DD- Emmy ATTORNEY Utecl States Patent C 3,609,778RIGID LITTER Eugene A. Zeiner, Monterey Park, Calif., assignor toAerojet-General Corporation, El Monte, Calif. Filed Mar. 7, 1969, Scr.No. 805,248 Int. Cl. A61g 7/10, l/02; A47c 17/64 US. Cl. 82 11 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A personnel litter according to the presentdisclosure comprises a substantially rigid pallet. First rigidrestraining means is provided for restraining the length of the torso ofthe personnel, and second restraining means restrains movement of thetorso. Attachment means rigidly attaches the restraining means to thepallet. According to one feature of this disclosure, a canopy isprovided for receiving the pallet and snare means is mounted to thecanopy so that an aircraft is capable of snaring the snare means toevacuate the litter.

This invention relates to litters for carrying non-ambulatory patients,and particularly to restraint-type litters capable of being retrieved byaircraft.

When transporting non-ambulatory patients from one location to another,care must be taken to prevent uncontrolled movement of such patient toprevent further injury to the patient. Although in many cases it ispossible to evacuate a non-ambulatory patient by means of a simplecanvas stretcher, such stretchers are not completely successful wherethe non-ambulatory patient must be moved for an appreciable distance dueto the danger of jarring the patient, thereby injuring him. Also, it isdesirable to move, Without delay, patients needing immediate medicalattention or patients in inherently dangerous environments, or both. Inbattlefield situations, for example, the general medical facilities areordinarily located at a position removed from the site of the battle,and it is desirable to move injured personnel from the battlesite to thegeneral medical facilities as quickly as possible.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a litter capable ofrestraining the patient so that there is a minimum degree of deflectionto the patient when the litter is transported.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a restraintlitter capable of restraining a non-ambulatory patient in the positionin which he was injured.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a litter fortransporting nonambulatory patients, which litter is capable ofrestraining the patient, and which litter may be evacuated in a minimumperiod of time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a restraintlitter capable of being evacuated by aircraft snaring techniques.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a restraintlitter with an aerodynamic canopy or capsule so that the litter may besnared by an aircraft in full flight and so that the acceleration forcesapplied to the patient on the litter during the snare operation would beapplied in a direction having the least effect on the patient.

in accordance with the present invention, a rigid litter is providedhaving a plurality of attachable rigid restraining devices. In the useof the litter, the patient is placed on the litter in the same positionin which he was found by the medical attendants and the restrainingdevices are attached to the litter to restrain the patient frommovement.

According to an optional and desirable feature of the present invention,the litter supporting the patient is placed in an aerodynamic capsule orcanopy, and means attached 3,609,778 Patented Oct. 5., 1971 to thecapsule enables as aircraft, in full flight, to snare the capsule toevacuate the patient. In accordance with this last recited feature, itis preferred that the aerodynamic characteristics of the capsule orcanopy direct the acceleration forces upon the patient from his front tohis rear, thereby causing minimam deflection and minimal injury to thepatient during the sharing process.

The above and other features of this invention will be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description, and the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a litter in accordance with thepresently preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view taken along plane 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the litter illustrated in FIG. 1supporting a patient and positioned in a capsule or canopy in accordanceWith the present invention;

FIGS. 4a to 4d illustrate the method of aircraft retrieval of theapparatus illustrated in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side-view elevation in cutaway cross-section of arestraining device for the litter illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there isillustrated a litter 10 according to the presently preferred embodiment.Litter 10 comprises a frame having longitudinal poles 11 and cross-bars12 arranged in a substantially rectangular configuration. Cross-bars 12preferably include a channel 13 extending therethrough. Poles 11preferably include handles 14 at each and thereon facilitate movement ofthe litter, and brackets 15 are provided for attaching poles 11 topallet 16. Pallet 16, which is preferably constructed of a suitablerigid closed-foam plastic such as a closed-cell polystyrene foam,includes a plurality of peg holes 17.

A plurality of restraining blocks are mounted to pallet 16. Preferably,the restraining blocks are in two general groups: one group comprising aplurality of large restraining blocks for restraining vertical movementof the torso, and a second group comprising a plurality of smallerrestraining blocks for fixing the position of contoured strips. Hence, alarge restraining block 18 having a generally rectangular configurationis provided to restain the feet of the patient and a pair of largecontoured blocks 19, 19a are provided to restrain the head of thepatient. A plurality of flexible restraining strips 20 are eachpositioned by several restraining blocks 21.

As is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 5, each of restrainingblocks 18, 19 and 21 comprises a block 22 of closed-cell polystyrenefoam plastic having the same general configuration as the restrainingblock. Plastic block 22 is covered with gauze layer 23 to provide a softcushion for the patient and is attached to peg holes 17 of pallet 16 bymeans of pins 24.

Suitable cross straps or belts 25 and 26 are attached to opposite sidesof pallet 16 by means of bracket 27. Strap 25 includes a buckle 28 sothat strap 26 may be fastened thereto. Straps 25 and 26 are preferablyconstructed of a suitable flexible material such as leather, or thelike, and are preferably in elastic.

In FIG. 3 there is illustrated a canopy or capsule 30 having asubstantially cylindrical shell 31 and a nose 32. A transparent window33 is hinged to shell 31 by means (not shown) to permit access to theinterior of the capsule. Window 33 completes the cylindrical contour toshell 31. Aerodynamic fins 34 provide aerodynamic surfaces for thecapsule. Litter 10 is positioned within shell 31 and rods 35 are passedthrough channels 13 of cross bars 12 of the litter and extend throughpassages 29 of the shell. Fasteners 36 are attached to the rods outsideof the shell 31 and support wire 37 is attached to the fasteners. Wire37 is also attached to bracket 38 which in turn is connected to cable 39through fastener 40. Preferably, fastener 40 includes suitable dampeningmechanism (not shown) such as a spring to relieve shock to the capsule.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 3 and ia-4d, the use of the litteraccording to the present invention may be readily explained. In FIG. 4athere is illustrated an injured patient 50, who, for purposes ofexplanation, will be assumed to have an injured right knee and istherefore non-ambulatory, and must be removed in a short amount of time.Furthermore, it will be assumed that the right leg 51 of patient 50 isslightly bent as illustrated in FIG. 4a.

First aid medical technicians first place patient 50 onto pallet 16 inthe position that the patient was found and position restraining block18 adjacent to the lowermost portion of his body, which in this case isthe heel of his left foot, and places restraining blocks 19 and 19aaround his head (see FIG. 4b). Flexible restraining strips 20 arepositioned in various locations about the torso with preferentialrestraint being provided in the vicinity of the injured right leg.Strips 20 are held in position by blocks 21 as heretofore described.Patent 50 is then strapped in position by means of straps 25 and 26 asillustrated in FIG. 4b and the pallet and patient are positioned in capsule 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3 as heretofore described.

It should be noted that the right leg of the patient is maintained inthe exact position that it was found with relationship to the rest ofthe torso, so that additional injury to the injured member will notoccur due to moving the patient. The free end of cable 39 attached tocanopy 30 is attached to a balloon 52 or other suitable lighter-than-airmember so that a snare mechanism (not shown) attached to aircraft 53 cansnare cable 39. Hence, as illustrated in FIGS. 40 and 4d aircraft 53snares cable 39 to pick-up the canopy and patient. Preferably, cable 39extends between 50 and 200 feet above the canopy to enable aircraft 53to maneuver.

One feature of the present invention resides in the fact that when theaircraft picks up the canopy, the initial movement of the canopy issubstantially upwards so that the canopy will clear any trees or otherhigh objects in the vicinity of the pick-up area. Another feature of thepresent invention resides in the fact that the litter and the canopy arebuoyant. The closed-cell polystyrene foam plastic provides buoyancy tothe litter, and the canopy or capsule is sealed so as to be buoyant.However, the litter is capable of supporting the patient in water.

With the present invention, the torso of the patient is effectivelyrestrained from movement thereby preventing differential displacement oftissue in a region of the injury and minimizing additional injury to thebone structure of the patient during retrieval and evacuation.Furthermore, the restraint on the patient does not interfere with thevital respiratory or cardiac systems of the patient and free breathingof the patient is assured. Also, displacement of tissue in the site ofthe injury may be prevented by rigidly fastening the patient and thearea of the injury of the pallet.

To prevent cardiovascular injury to the patient, head-tofootacceleration should be substantially eliminated and the accelerationforces should be applied from front to back. With the present invention,all significant acceleration forces are applied from front to back andagainst the upper surface of the pallet. Hence, when a patient ispositioned with his back against the pallet, the aerodynamic surfaces onthe canopy assures that significant acceleration forces are applied fromhis front to his back.

A litter according to the present invention has been constructed havinga rigidity factor not exceeding a deflection of /2 inch under a force of3G. The high degree of rigidity of the litter provides a greaterreliability of pick up than prior stretchers. Furthermore, there is lesslikelihood of injury to the patient due to rebound of accelerationforces as in the case of more elastic stretchers.

This invention is not to be limited to the embodiment shown in thedrawings and described in description, which is given by way of exampleand not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A personnel litter comprising: a substantially rigid pallet forsupporting the torso of a personnel; first substantially rigidrestraining means adapted to restrain the length of the torso; secondrestraining means, adapted to contain substantial portions of theperimeter of the torso, said perimeter being in a plane substantiallyparallel to said pallet for restraining movement of the torso; andattachment means for rigidly attaching said first and second restrainingmeans to said pallet.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further including a plurality ofsubstantially inelastic flexible straps for holding the torso againstsaid pallet.

3. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pallet includes aplurality of peg holes, and said attachment means includes a pluralityof pins in said first and third restraining means adapted to mate withsaid peg holes.

4. -A personnel litter comprising: a substantially rigid pallet forsupporting the torso of a personnel; first substantially rigidrestraining means adapted to restrain the length of the torso; aplurality of flexible restraining strips; third substantially rigidrestraining means for restraining said restraining strips; andattachment means for rigidly attaching said first, second and thirdrestraining means to said pallet.

5. A personnel litter comprising: a substantially rigid pallet forsupporting the torso of a personnel, first substantially rigidrestraining means adapted to restrain the length of the torso, secondrestraining means for restraining movement of the torso, attachmentmeans for rigidly attaching said first and second restraining means tosaid pallet, canopy means defining an enclosed cavity, mounting meansfor rigidly mounting said pallet in said cavity, and snare means mountedto said canopy and extending above said canopy, whereby an aircraft maysnare said snare means to evacuate said litter and the personnel.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5- further including aerodynamicsurfaces on said canopy means whereby acceleration forces are appliedsubstantially downwardly onto the upper surface of the pallet.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 further including a plurality ofsubstantially inelastic flexible straps for hold ing the torso againstthe said pallet.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said second restraining meanscomprises a plurality of flexible restraining strips, thirdsubstantially rigid restraining means for restraining said restrainingstrips, and said attachment means includes means for rigidly attachingsaid third restraining means to said pallet.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said pallet includes aplurality of peg holes, and said attachment means includes a pluralityof pins in said first and third restraining means adapted to mate withsaid peg holes.

10. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said restraining meanscomprises a plurality of flexible restraining strips, thirdsubstantially rigid restraining means for restraining strips, and saidattachment means includes means for rigidly attaching said thirdrestraining means to said pallet.

11. Apparatus according to claim 4 further including a plurality ofsubstantially inelastic flexible straps for holding the torso againstsaid pallet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,607,103 8/1952 Davidson 582X2,675,564 4/-l954 Hughes 582 3,414,914 12/1968 Gramins 5-82 CASMIR A.NUNBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 5-317

